Teenager seriously injured in seagull attack

A sea gull on the beach, this is not the attacker. Credit: PA

A teenager has suffered serious injuries after falling 15 feet into the harbour at St. Ives in Cornwall, after being attacked by a seagull.>The 18-year-old woman was airlifted to hospital with suspected spinal injuries after falling off the pier when she panicked as a gull tried to steal her ice cream. >It's being reported that the incident took place at the Smeatons Pier.

The young woman was immediately attended to by the St Ives RNLI lifeboat crew on the sand. Teams treated her at the harbour, before she was then airlifted to Treliske Hospital by the air ambulance.

The victim's mum, has told local radio station Pirate FM that her daughter, Joanna, had phoned to say she fell off the wall because of the seagull.